# Trading cards

> Pokémon, sports and TCG singles. Small, light and easy to damage, so you need card protection and Large Letter postage.

Cards are light and valuable for their size. Most single-card orders fit in a rigid mailer and ship as a Large Letter, which keeps postage low if you pack them flat.

Every card goes into a penny sleeve, then a toploader, then a team bag. Store singles by set and number in long boxes so you can pull a sold card while the show is still running.

## How to pack it

- Sleeve the card, slide it into a toploader and seal it in a team bag.
- Put it in a board-backed mailer with a strip of tape over the toploader’s open end.
- Weigh it on the pocket scale and send it as a Large Letter if it’s under the limit.

Avoid: Loose cards in plain envelopes. They bend in sorting machines, and the refund costs more than the mailer.

- **[Penny sleeves, 1,000 pack](https://sellersetups.com/product/penny-sleeves)** (£6 to £10): Stops surface scratches before the card goes into a toploader. At this pack size each sleeve costs well under a penny.
- **[35pt toploaders, 100 pack](https://sellersetups.com/product/toploaders)** (£12 to £18): Buyers on Whatnot and eBay expect any card worth more than a few pounds to arrive sleeved and top-loaded. A bent card means a refund.
- **[Resealable team bags, 100 pack](https://sellersetups.com/product/team-bags)** (£4 to £7): A team bag over the toploader holds the card in place and keeps moisture out, for a few pence a card.
- **[Board-backed card mailers, C6, 100 pack](https://sellersetups.com/product/rigid-card-mailers)** (£10 to £18): A sleeved and top-loaded card in a rigid mailer stays flat through sorting machines and usually ships as a Large Letter, which costs far less than a parcel.
- **[100 x 150 mm thermal labels, 500 fanfold](https://sellersetups.com/product/thermal-labels-fanfold)** (£12 to £18): Fanfold stacks feed flat behind the printer and hold more labels than a roll. 100 x 150 mm matches the label size UK couriers and marketplaces print.
- **[Thank-you stickers, roll of 500](https://sellersetups.com/product/thank-you-stickers)** (£5 to £9): A sticker sealing the tissue makes the parcel look finished before the buyer opens it. Swap to custom stickers with your shop name once the brand settles.

## Postage per order

- Royal Mail 2nd Class Large Letter: £1.55 to £2.70. Single cards in a rigid mailer, jewellery and other flat items up to 750 g that fit through a letterbox.
- Royal Mail Tracked 48 Large Letter: £2.90. Higher-value cards and flat items up to 1 kg that need tracking and a delivery photo.

## The kit for a card table

Start with penny sleeves, toploaders, team bags and board-backed card mailers. That covers almost every single-card sale, from a bulk common to a chase card. Add a pocket scale that reads to a tenth of a gram, because card mailers sit close to postage weight bands.

A thermal label printer saves more time here than in most categories, since you post lots of small orders. If you open packs on camera, a phone on an overhead arm and a soft panel light come next.

## Packing a card so it arrives flat

Sleeve the card first, then slide it into a toploader. Seal the toploader in a team bag or tape over the open end so the card can’t creep out. Put it in a board-backed mailer and press the flap down firmly.

For multi-card orders, stack toploaders face to face and wrap the stack in a team bag. Bundles of commons can go in a sleeved stack between two pieces of card, but anything a buyer chose by name gets its own toploader.

## Storing stock you can find in seconds

Keep singles in card storage boxes with labelled dividers by set, then by number. Give every listed card a short location code, like box 3, divider B, and put that code in your listing notes or a spreadsheet. On a live show you won’t have time to hunt.

Sealed product belongs on a shelf away from sunlight and radiators. Shrink wrap and box art fade, and buyers of sealed stock notice.

## Photos and listings

Shoot the front and back of every single on a plain dark background, out of the sleeve if the card is raw. Buyers look at corners, edges and centring, so add a close-up of any flaw. Use the set name, card number and variant in the title, the way collectors search for them.

On eBay, item specifics for set, character and grade help buyers filter to your card. On Vinted, cards sell best as small themed bundles with one clear photo of the whole lot.

## Selling cards live on Whatnot and TikTok Shop

Live breaks and singles auctions move cards faster than fixed-price listings. Pre-sort what you’ll run into a numbered stack before you go live so each lot comes off the top in order. Keep sleeves, toploaders and team bags within reach so you can protect each card the moment it sells.

After the show, pack in sale order and tick each buyer off the show’s order list. Print labels in one batch rather than one at a time between lots.

## Postage and growing past 50 orders

Most single cards go Large Letter in a board-backed mailer. Weigh and measure thickness each time you add toploaders, because Royal Mail’s Large Letter size and weight limits are strict and an underpaid letter costs your buyer a surcharge. Check the current Royal Mail size guide rather than guessing.

Once orders pass 50 a week, pre-build mailers in a batch before shows and buy sleeves and toploaders by the case. A fanfold label stack and a printer that feeds itself stop the label step being the slow one.

## Common mistakes

- Posting a card in a toploader with the top open lets it slide out in transit, so tape the opening or seal it in a team bag.
- Guessing the weight of a mailer with three toploaders inside often tips it into the next postage band, so weigh every multi-card order.
- Photographing cards still in a scuffed sleeve hides the corners buyers want to see, so shoot raw cards out of the sleeve.
- Selling a lot on a live show and then searching for it afterwards slows packing, so pre-number every lot before you go live.
- Leaving sealed boxes on a sunny windowsill fades the art, so store sealed stock in a dark, dry spot.

## Setups

- [Pro Whatnot streaming setup for card breaks](https://sellersetups.com/setups/pro-whatnot-streaming): A two-camera studio with app-controlled lights, a button pad for angles and a packing line, for card breakers posting 80 to 300 orders a week.
- [Whatnot card break setup for sports and football cards](https://sellersetups.com/setups/sports-card-breaks): An overhead rip camera, a sorting system for hits per buyer and Large Letter packing, for running football and sports card breaks on Whatnot and eBay.
- [Whatnot card setup: £300 starter kit](https://sellersetups.com/setups/whatnot-card-starter): Camera, lights and packing kit for running your first Whatnot card shows from a desk and shipping the orders next morning, for about £300.

## Guides

- [How to run football card breaks on Whatnot](https://sellersetups.com/guides/football-card-breaks): Running Premier League and Champions League card breaks on Whatnot: picking a format, filling spots, ripping on camera and posting each buyer’s cards.
- [How to post Pokémon cards in the UK](https://sellersetups.com/guides/how-to-post-pokemon-cards): Sleeve, toploader, team bag and a board-backed mailer: the layers that get a Pokémon single to a UK buyer flat, plus when a Large Letter stops being enough.
- [What Whatnot, Vinted and eBay sellers keep](https://sellersetups.com/guides/reseller-earnings-maths): UK fees on Whatnot, Vinted and eBay, worked examples of profit per item after postage and packaging, and the levers that change what you take home.
- [How to sell Pokémon cards on Whatnot: setup and kit](https://sellersetups.com/guides/sell-pokemon-cards-live): The camera, light, sound and card protection a Pokémon seller needs for a first live show, and the order to buy it in.
- [How to start a Pokémon card business in the UK](https://sellersetups.com/guides/start-pokemon-card-business): Turning a Pokémon card collection into a UK side business: choosing what to sell, where to sell it, stock records and when HMRC treats it as trading.
- [Trend reselling and spotting fakes](https://sellersetups.com/guides/trend-reselling-fakes): Labubu, Sonny Angels, Pokémon cards and trainers: read demand from live viewer counts, check stock before you buy, and stay on the right side of UK law.
- [Whatnot production setup: lights, camera and audio](https://sellersetups.com/guides/whatnot-production-setup): Choosing which pro streaming kit to buy first, and which to skip, when your Whatnot shows outgrow a phone and a ring light.

## Questions

### Can a single card go as a Large Letter?

Usually. A sleeved, top-loaded card in a C6 board-backed mailer stays within Royal Mail’s Large Letter size and weight limits. Check the thickness: a stack of toploaders can push it over 25 mm.

### Do I need a precision scale for cards?

It helps, because card mailers often weigh within a few grams of a postage limit, and a 0.1 g pocket scale tells you which side you’re on. Keep a larger parcel scale for bundles and sealed boxes.

### Should I send expensive cards tracked?

Yes. Use a tracked or signed-for service for any card you’d struggle to replace, and keep proof of postage. Check the compensation level of the service against the card’s value.

### Do I need team bags if I tape the toploader?

Not strictly, but a team bag keeps moisture off the card and looks tidier when the buyer opens it. Using both costs pennies a card.

### Can I sell cards on Vinted?

Yes, cards and collectables are listed on Vinted. Bundles and mid-value singles do well there; high-value cards tend to find more buyers on eBay or live on Whatnot.

### How do I pack a graded slab?

Wrap the slab in bubble wrap and send it in a small box or a padded mailer stiffened with card. A slab is too thick for a Large Letter in most cases, so post it as a small parcel.